Wednesday, May 30, 2018 -- Trump In Tennessee, The Campaigner-In-Chief, Faith Under Fire

Trump In Tennessee

President Trump delivered a rousing speech in Nashville, Tennessee, last night. He appeared to speak off-the-cuff for nearly an hour to a raucous audience. As usual, Trump tackled a lot of issues, but he really zeroed in on immigration.

He slammed the left for its support of open borders, for defending MS-13 gang members and he again pledged to build a wall to secure our southern border. Trump blasted Mexican officials for allowing a caravan of illegal immigrants to march hundreds of miles through their own country to our border.

"They make all of this money, and they do absolutely nothing to stop people from going through Mexico from Honduras and all these other countries -- the caravan, all of this stuff -- they do nothing to help us, nothing," he said.

And while many on the left are invested in dividing us and intent on "fundamentally transforming" our country, President Trump delivered a passionate, unapologetic defense of America. His remarks were especially poignant on the heels of Memorial Day. Here are some excerpts of his speech:

"We stand on the shoulders of American heroes. . . We have beaten empires, we have tamed continents, we've triumphed over the worst evils in history. . . We're the nation that built the Empire State Building in less than one year, and the Golden Gate Bridge and the incredible Panama Canal. . .

"We won two world wars. We defeated communism and fascism. We put a man on the face of the moon. . . As long as we are proud of who we are, and what we are fighting for, we will never, ever fail. . .

"We will never give in. We will never give up. And we will never stop fighting for our country, for our flag, and for our great, beautiful freedom. We are one people, we are one family, and one glorious nation under God."

The Campaigner-in-Chief

The president had another purpose for being in Tennessee last night. He was there to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

Retaining the seat in Tennessee could well determine whether Republicans retain the majority in the Senate. Yes, there are several good pickup opportunities in other states. But we can't afford to lose seats in conservative states like Tennessee.

Polls show Blackburn is locked in a close race, and one reason is that voters aren't very happy with the current GOP incumbent. When Trump mentioned Sen. Bob Corker many in the audience booed.

Corker's support for Blackburn has been less than enthusiastic because he is friends with the Democrat candidate. Corker's moderate tendencies have caused numerous problems for Republicans. He even cooperated with Democrats to save Obama's Iranian nuclear deal.

Trump also lashed into Nancy Pelosi for appearing to defend MS-13. He shouldn't be the only one doing so. Every Republican candidate should be making this a major issue. The left has been soft on crime and hostile to law enforcement for decades.

Some people may be offended by the president's comments, but I have seen leading progressives tear up when talking about illegal immigrants. Why aren't they tearing up for Kate Steinle or Jamiel Shaw?

To suggest, as Pelosi did, that MS-13 gang members have the "spark of dignity" while denying that same spark in innocent unborn children is bizarre and deserves to be called out.

CWF has endorsed Marsha Blackburn and other solid conservatives in key Senate races. We are supporting candidates who are serious about border security.

Crucial House and Senate committees have scheduled hearings next month regarding the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton investigations. Yesterday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley announced that his committee would hear testimony from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz on June 5th.

Horowitz has completed his report on how the FBI conducted the investigation of Clinton's "extremely careless" handling of classified material. While the report is not yet public, the buzz around Washington is that Horowitz was very critical of fired FBI Director James Comey.

In addition, a joint investigation by the House Judiciary and Government Oversight committees will hear from three top FBI officials: Bill Priestap, the assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division, Michael Steinbach, the former head of the FBI's national security division, and John Giacalone, who also led the national security division.

As you may recall, Priestap was close to James Comey and supervised Trump-hating agent Peter Strzok.

If you are having trouble keeping track of all these scandals, you're not alone. Yesterday, I recommended former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy's columns at National Review for anyone trying to make sense of the twists and turns of the Mueller/Russia collusion investigation.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also has a useful column noting that there are really five major intertwined scandals. He writes, "Taken together, they are a mound of illegalities, abuses, dishonesty, and manipulation – on a scale that has never before occurred in America."

By the way, it seems that the American people are becoming increasingly skeptical of the Deep State. According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 51% of voters believe it is likely that senior law enforcement officials broke the law in their efforts to undermine Donald Trump. That includes 72% of Republicans and even 29% of Democrats.

Faith Under Fire

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday released the Trump Administration's first report on the state of religious freedom around the world. It was another reminder of everything the Trump/Pence team is doing to defend our values and to promote religious liberty here at home and abroad.

As you know, President Trump recently appointed me to a position on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. It is a daunting task, but I was deeply encouraged by Secretary Pompeo's remarks. He said:

"Religious freedom is in the American bloodstream. It's what brought the pilgrims here from England. Our founders understood it as our first freedom. . . Religious freedom was vital to America's beginning. Defending it is critical to our future. . . President Trump stands with those who yearn for religious liberty. Our vice president stands with them, and so do I.

"Advancing liberty and religious freedom advances America's interests. Where fundamental freedoms of religion, expression, press, and peaceful assembly are under attack, we find conflict, instability, and terrorism. On the other hand, governments and societies that champion these freedoms are more secure, stable, and peaceful.

"So for all of these reasons, protecting and promoting global respect for religious freedom is a priority of the Trump administration. . . We're committed to promoting religious freedom around the world, both now and in the future."